title: Double-blind randomised controlled trial of folate treatment before conception to prevent recurrence of neural-tube defects.
abstract: A randomized controlled double-blind trial was undertaken in south Wales to prevent the recurrence of neural-tube defects in women who had had one child with a neural-tube defect. Sixty women were allocated before conception to take 4 mg of folic acid a day before and during early pregnancy and 44 complied with these instructions. Fifty-one women were allocated to placebo treatment. There were no recurrences among the compliant mothers but two among the non-compliers and four among the women in the placebo group. Thus there were no recurrences among those who received supplementation and six among those who did not; this difference is significant (p = 0.04). It is concluded that folic acid supplementation might be a cheap, safe, and effective method of primary prevention of neural-tube defects but that this must be confirmed in a large, multicentre trial.
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004032:Diet; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid